Opioids Report
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2018 A. OPIOIDS REPORT Global cultivation 37% Global seizures 10% 10% 579% DRUG change from previous year change from previous year opium heroin morphine imate est WORLD nt e c e 418,000 ha r 586,000 x t s o m 658 91 65 = tons tons tons opium heroin morphine 2017 2016 Global production 65% Global number of users change from previous year s ser u id 700–1,050 io p 9,100–9,400 tons o 34,3 million rs 10,500 tons tons of heroin se u processed produced e of opium t a into heroin i p o 1,100-1,400 tons 19.4 million consumed as opium 2017 2016 Note: All data refer to 2016 except cultivation and production, which refer to 2017 (preliminary). EMBARGOED26 JUNE 2018 UNTIL The global area under opium poppy Global opium production increased by 65 per cent cultivation increased by more than to 10,500 tons in 2017, the highest level since a third in 2017, while global opium UNODC started estimating global opium produc- production increased by almost two tion on an annual basis at the beginning of the thirds 11 AM EDT (5twenty-first PM century. CEST)1 The surge in global production primarily reflects an 87 per cent increase in opium The total area under opium poppy cultivation production in Afghanistan to a record high of 9,000 worldwide is estimated to have increased by some tons, equivalent to 86 per cent of estimated global 37 per cent to almost 420,000 ha from 2016 to 2017, primarily reflecting an increase in the cultiva- 1 Opium production estimates have existed since the proceed- tion of opium poppy in Afghanistan. With 328,000 ings of the Shanghai Opium Commission in 1909. Such ha under opium poppy cultivation, Afghanistan estimates were, however, based on different methodologies (such as payment of taxes and other levies by opium farm- accounted for more than three quarters of the esti- ers) and thus may not be fully comparable with the data mated global area under illicit opium poppy presented since UNODC started estimating global opium cultivation in 2017, a record level. production in 2000 (largely based on remote sensing and scientific yield surveys). The previous estimates included By contrast, opium poppy cultivation in Myanmar, 16,600 tons of opium calculated for the year 1934, based on official reports by the League of Nations (UNODC, “A cen- the country with the world’s second largest area tury of international drug control” (2009)), and 41,600 tons under opium poppy cultivation (accounting for 10 of opium for the period 1906/07, based on data reported by per cent of the global estimated area in 2017), the International Opium Commission (Report of the Inter- national Opium Commission, Shanghai, China, February 1 to declined over the period 2015–2017 by some 25 February 26, 1909). For more details, see the online meth- per cent to 41,000 ha, the lowest level since 2010. odological annex of this report. 12 ANALYSIS OF DRUG MARKETS A. Opioids 3 Record increase in opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan: future challenges The record level of opium poppy cultivation in Afghani- Moreover, the transformation of opium into heroin is stan in 2017 is likely to create multiple challenges for likely to bring increased trafficking of precursor sub- the country, neighbouring countries and the many other stances, which will potentially be diverted from licit countries of transit and destination for Afghan opiates. international markets and smuggled into Afghanistan Afghanistan is one of the least developed countries in to supply manufacturers of heroin. More high-quality, the world, and the impact of illicit drug cultivation and low-cost heroin will reach consumer markets across the production on economic, environmental and social devel- world, with increased consumption and related harms opment continues to be multifaceted. Increased levels being the likely consequence. Only a small share of the of opium poppy cultivation, opium production and illicit revenues generated by the cultivation and trafficking of trafficking of opiates will exacerbate the harmful effects Afghan opiates reaches Afghan drug trafficking groups. of the existing large-scale production of opiates and Many more billions of dollars are made from trafficking are likely to fuel further instability and insurgency and opiates into major consumer markets, mainly in Europe increase funding to terrorist groups in Afghanistan. The and Asia. Addressing the opiate problem in Afghanistan expanding illicit economy, which in many provinces has is therefore a shared responsibility. permeated rural societies and made many communities dependent on income from opium poppy cultivation, will Source: UNODC and the Ministry of Counter-Narcotics of further constrain the development of the licit economy Afghanistan, Afghanistan Opium Survey 2017: Cultivation and potentially fuel corruption. and Production (Vienna, 2017), p. 7. opium production in 2017. The increase in produc- manufacture to date has increased far less than tion in Afghanistan was not only due to an increase opium production.3 in the area under poppy cultivation but also to Of the 10,500 tons of opium produced worldwide improving opium yields. There is no single reason in 2017, it is estimated that some 1,100–1,400 tons for the massive increase in opium poppy cultivation remained unprocessed for consumption as opium, in Afghanistan in 2017 as the drivers are multiple, while the rest was processed into heroin, resulting complex and geographically diverse, and many ele- EMBARGOEDin an estimate UNTIL of between 700 and 1,050 tons of ments continue to influence farmers’ decisions 26 JUNEheroin manufactured2018 worldwide (expressed at export regarding opium poppy cultivation. A combination purity), 550–900 tons of which were manufactured of events may have exacerbated rule-of-law chal- in Afghanistan. lenges, such as political instability, corruption, a lack of government control and11 security. AM The shift EDT in In contrast(5 PM to the situation CEST) in Afghanistan, opium strategy by the Afghan Government — focusing its production in Myanmar decreased over the period efforts on countering anti-government elements in 2015–2017 by some 14 per cent to an estimated densely populated areas — may have made the rural 550 tons, equivalent to 5 per cent of the global population more vulnerable to the influence of opium production estimate. Despite this decline, anti-government elements. A reduction in the the opium price fell by almost 30 per cent to $153 engagement of the international aid community per kg in Myanmar in 2017,4 and the quantity of may also have hindered socioeconomic development opiates seized also decreased, suggesting a decrease opportunities in rural areas.2 in demand for opiates produced in Myanmar. This may be linked to the massive expansion in the supply As a result of the massive increase in opium produc- tion in 2017, opium prices fell in Afghanistan by 3 Higher quality heroin prices were, in February 2018, still 47 per cent from December 2016 to December only 7 per cent lower than a year earlier. (Afghanistan, 2017. However, the price of high-quality Afghan Ministry of Counter-Narcotics and UNODC, “Afghanistan heroin decreased by just 7 per cent over the same drug price monitoring monthly report” (February, 2018)). 4 Also, only limited data on opium prices could be collected period, which may be an indication that heroin by the opium survey field team in Myanmar in 2017, which may potentially impact on the findings (Myanmar, Central 2 Afghanistan, Ministry of Counter-Narcotics and UNODC, Committee for Drug Abuse Control and UNODC, Myan- Afghanistan Opium Survey 2017 (Vienna, 2017). mar Opium Survey 2017, p. 16.). 13 2018 FIG. 1 Opium poppy cultivation and production of opium, 2006–2017a REPORT 11,000 440,000 10,000 400,000 DRUG 9,000 360,000 8,000 320,000 7,000 280,000 on on (tons) WORLD ti 6,000 240,000 on (hectares) on 5,000 200,000 ti va ti Produc 4,000 160,000 3,000 120,000 Cul 2,000 80,000 1,000 40,000 0 0 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 Total area under cultivation Production in Afghanistan Production in Myanmar Production in the Lao People's Democratic Republic Production in Mexico Production in other countries Source: UNODC, calculations are based on UNODC illicit crop monitoring surveys and the responses to the annual report questionnaire. a Data for 2017 are still preliminary. Mexico is not included in 2016/2017 due to the lack of data. of even lower priced Afghan opiates in 2017.5 If Another factor in the decline in the heroin price confirmed, this would constitute a new phenomenon could be a decrease in the demand for opiates as there is no prior evidence of changes in Afghan resulting from a switch to the use of ATS and other opium production impacting on opium prices in synthetic drugs in the subregion. South-East Asia, or vice versa, as the two markets While Canada is mainly supplied with heroin from have mainly existed in isolation from each other. South-West Asia,6 countries in Latin America EMBARGOED(mostly UNTIL Mexico and, to a far lesser extent, Colombia FIG. 2 Global opium production and and Guatemala) account for most of the heroin quantities of opioids seized,26 2006–2017JUNE 2018 supply to the United States while also supplying the 10,000 250 still small heroin markets of South America. How- ever, there are no opium production estimates for 8,000 200 Mexico for the years 2016 and 2017, as the meth- on on (tons) 11 AM EDT (5 PM CEST) ti c 6,000 150 odology for such estimates is currently under review.